"In my 20s I used to cry about why I wasn't thinner or prettier, but I want to add that I also used to cry about things like: 'I wish my hair would grow faster. I wish I had different shoes ...' " she told PEOPLE. "I was an idiot ... It's a decade of tears."

Thankfully, McCarthy grew out of that phase and realized that instead of whining about things, you can take action to change or you can simply learn to love yourself the way you are.

"I've never felt like I needed to change," she insists. "I've always thought, 'If you want somebody different, pick somebody else.'" (Can we get an amen?) "But sure," she added, "criticism can sometimes still get to me. Some things are so malicious, they knock the wind out of you."

"I'll do almost anything for a laugh. I'm completely delighted by people who think, 'I don't care what anybody else thinks, I look great in this, and I rock it and I love it.' It's such a delightful sort of confidence."

And Melissa McCarthy is such a delightful sort of star: Happy, warm, hilarious. And while she's satisfied with her size and maintains that she's healthy, she can probably afford all the awesome shoes she wants now.